7.24k reviews for:

Odyssee

Homer

3.71 AVERAGE

adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
Loveable characters: Complicated

so boring
adventurous mysterious reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

"Calypso, the splendid goddess, knew the god on sight: the deathless gods all recognize each other, however far away their homes may be."

"You would have been thrilled if you saw him, like a lion, drenched in blood and gore."

Fantastic translation - so easy to follow! Emily Wilson makes The Odyssey accessible while keeping its original format as an epic poem.

As for the story itself, it’s a lot of crying & a lot of drinking wine. But entertaining nonetheless.
adventurous challenging slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
kaikilbane's profile picture

kaikilbane's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 23%

Boring, awful translation in my opinion!
adventurous challenging tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Summary: Odysseus has been away from home fighting at Troy and is suspected to be dead. Suitors have camped out at his home in hopes of marrying his widowed wife, which upsets her and her son. Odysseus is actually alive and with the help of Athena begins his journey back home.

Favorite Quote: As when a fisherman out on a cliff
casts his long rod and line set round with oxhorn
to trick the little fishes with his bait;
when one is caught, he flings it gasping back
onto the shore—so those men gasped as Scylla
lifted them up high to her rocky cave
and at the entrance ate them up—still screaming,
still reaching out to me in their death throes. (lines 250-257)

Review: I liked this up until the point he finally makes it home because it starts to drag a bit after that. Some of the turns of phrase and visual metaphors it comes up with are interesting. There's also a lot of repetition, which might have been for oral storytelling so you could remember it.
adventurous dark slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: N/A
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A